Mono Monday: "Still Life"

A few days before Christmas 2019 I got an early morning call from friends in our local Heritage group, asking if I could come down to the Square and take some photos. They had unexpectedly been given the chance to "borrow" a cherry picker (that was working nearby) to inspect the unicorn on top of the Mercat Cross. 

I was sent aloft in the basket, and spent fifteen minutes or so snapping the beast at close quarters. The poor old thing was in a bit of the state: it was obvious from the ground that part of its head (along with its horn) was missing (there are stories of an incident with a snowball many years ago...!), but more worryingly there is crack through its back legs and base, and with one foreleg eroded through it's only a sliver of stone at the tip of the other that is holding the shield in place. We talked about how to get something done about this, but before anything could happen... the pandemic hit. 

A few weeks ago, representatives from various local groups were finally able to get together to discuss this, and today a specialist stonemason visited to take a proper look at it (and the rest of the Cross) to see what can be done.

I think it's stretching it a bit to claim this fits this week's "Still Life" theme, but in my defence: despite being precarious on its perch the unicorn is STILL with us... and it doesn't move much! :D